It's never too late to switch your diet and eat healthier: Going Vegan

Neatloaf, served with Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy, two of the 75 recipes featured in the new book "Never Too Late to Go Vegan."

(Grant Butler/The Oregonian)

After spending five decades eating the standard American diet, some people might think there's little point going vegan. Surely, by the time you've hit 50, the good-health ship has sailed, and there's little to be gained by eating a plant-based diet.

If that's your thinking, Virginia Messina wants you to think again.

"It's never too late. People can always benefit from changing their diet at any time in their life," Messina says. "You experience all sorts of health benefits when you switch to eating plant foods from animal foods.

"People see their cholesterol drop, and it makes it easier to control your blood pressure. There's very good evidence that vegan diets are a great way to reduce your risk of heart disease. Some people lose weight, while some people don't, but sometimes that's a benefit of going vegan."

, which Messina co-wrote with Carol J. Adams and Patti Breitman. The book is an over-50 guide to adopting and thriving on a plant-based diet, and is loaded with information about how eating plants is the best response to the complex health issues that crop up later in life. It includes 75 health-focused recipes designed to appeal to people who are transitioning, and may be looking for comforting, familiar flavors.

, perhaps the most-authoritative website addressing questions about the intersection of veganism and health.

Virginia Messina, co-author of the new book "Never Too Late to Go Vegan."

Because people can be pretty set in their ways when it comes to their food choices, Messina says it's good to look at eating with a fresh perspective.

"We all have habits that are very much ingrained, and the older you are, the more ingrained they might be," she says. "One of the things we ask people to do is look at some of those habits they already have that are compatible with a vegan diet. Most of us have foods in our diet that we don't think of as vegan but are – like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, lentil soup, or pasta with marinara sauce.

"The other thing to do is gradually explore other foods. Think of it as an adventure, exploring more international cuisines, and gradually add those foods to your diet so you're crowding out the animal foods, instead of saying ‘Ugh, I've got to dump all the animal foods from my diet. Now what am I going to eat.' "

People's nutritional needs change with aging, and Messina says that there's a common misperception that a vegan diet won't address dietary needs.

"Older people might have slightly higher needs for protein to protect muscle and bones, because we use protein less-efficiently as we get older. And we know people have higher needs for calcium," she says. "Those are really easy to address with a vegan diet. There are plenty of plant sources for protein and calcium."

Messina says that eating four servings a day of legumes – beans, soy foods and peanuts – is all it takes to get sufficient protein as a senior. And there's abundant calcium in foods like leafy greens like kale and collards, and most plant-based milks are calcium-fortified.

Vegan diets are lower in iron, which is a contributing factor in Alzheimer's disease and dementia, but higher in antioxidants, which may lower risk for some forms of cancer, and a high-fiber diet has been proven to lower the risk for colon cancer.

"There are so many contributing factors to cancer – smoking, environment, and factors that we don't even know," she says. "We can't say that going vegan is an absolute guarantee that you aren't going to get cancer, but there are a lot of things about a vegan diet that make it a good choice as part of an overall lifestyle to avoid cancer."

Better health isn't the only reason people go vegan, of course. It can be very inexpensive, particularly if people avoid processed foods and cook for themselves from scratch, which makes it very appealing to seniors who are on fixed incomes.

And choosing to follow a path of compassion and kindness can be tremendously life-affirming.

"As the years go by, particularly after they pass age 50, people begin thinking a little more about their legacy and the kind of world they want to leave behind," she says. "This is such a simple change that people can make in their life that really does make the world a better place."